Double Chocolate Cookie Bars

by penji1

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And the last treat from the night, these are so rich and delicious!  YUM!  The recipe is from a blog called “Heidi Bakes”.  They seriously couldn’t be any easier to make.

24 chocolate sandwich cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1  Preheat oven to 325.

2  Set aside 6 cookies and grind the rest in a food processor or blender.  In a small bowl, stir together cookie crumbs and butter until well blended.  (When I make these again, I will increase the amount of cookies and butter here so that the crust is thicker and covers the pan more easily.)  Press into bottom of 9 x 13″ pan.

3  Over double boiler or in microwave, melt 1 cup of chocolate chips together with condensed milk and vanilla.  Stir frequently until smooth.  Spread evenly over crust.  Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over top.  Break remaining cookies into pieces and sprinkle over top.  (I used more of both chocolate chips and cookies here.)

4  Bake 20 – 25 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting.

Gooey Lemon Bars

by penji1

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These are divine!  Sort of a cross between a traditional lemon bar and a great lemon cake, how awesome is that?  The recipe is from the “Six Sisters’ Stuff”.  They were all gone by the end of the night.  I need to make them again soon!

1 lemon cake mix

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg, slightly beaten

Combine above and mix with fork.  (I did it in with my mixer.)  Press down in 9 x 13″ pan with greased bottom.

2 – 3 cups powdered sugar (I used 3)

3 – 4 tablespoons butter (I used 4)

lemon juice (I think I ended up using the juice from 2 small lemons)

3 – 5 drops yellow food coloring (I used a lot more than this)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix powdered sugar and butter.  Add enough lemon juice to form consistency of thick frosting.  Mix in cream cheese and yellow food coloring.  Set aside 1 cup of frosting to spread on later.  Add eggs to remaining frosting mixture and beat til fluffy.  Spread on top of cake mix in pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.  Let cool completely and then spread reserved frosting on top.

Walnut Chocolate Chip Blondies

by penji1

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And now for my favorite part of any gathering – the treats!  These come from a blog called “Mel’s Kitchen Cafe” and are a knockoff from an Applebee’s recipe.  I’m on board with anything that is loaded with brown sugar and butter, that being said, I have to admit that of the three treats that I made for last night’s gathering, these were number three on the list!  That’s not to say that they’re not good, they were just less good than the other two.  But they were also gone at the end of the night so other people obviously enjoyed them a lot!

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

10 tablespoons butter

2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 9 x 13″ pan with foil and grease foil lightly with cooking spray.

2  In a medium microwave proof bowl, melt butter.  Add brown sugar and mix well.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix.  Add flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda and blend until combined.

3  Spread batter in prepared pan.  Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts over batter.  Bake 25 – 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Stuffed Cheesy Bread on Crack

by penji1

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Should have made more of this, it was gone quickly!  The recipe is from a blog called “Food Wanderings in Asia”.  Pretty easy to make, the only hard part was cutting the bread without smooshing it!

1 Italian loaf, about 12″ long

1 stick butter, melted

1/8 cup (or 2 tablespoons) olive oil

3 teaspoons minced onion (I used dried onion)

2 – 3 cloves garlic, grated or pressed

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

3 teaspoons chopped parsley

12 oz grated cheese (she uses white cheddar and Monterey Jack, I used a 4 cheese pizza blend)

1  Preheat oven to 350.

2  Mix melted butter, olive oil, onion, garlic, mustard, poppy seeds and parsley in bowl.

3  Cut bread into cubes with X slices without cutting all the way through the bottom crust.

4  Pour butter mixture carefully into the X cracks using a small spoon and over the top of the bread.  Fill the cracks with cheese.

5  Wrap loaf in foil, sealing sides and bake 15 – 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and unwrap.  Bake another 10 minutes until cheese is melted and gooey.

Layered Pizza Dip

by penji1

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This was a hit and was all gone at the end of the night.  I doubled the batch and served it with some Keebler Townhouse Flatbread Crisps, the Sea Salt and Olive Oil flavor.  The recipe comes from Pillsbury.  Super easy and super yummy!

1 (8 oz) container soft cream cheese with chives and onions

1/2 cup chunky pizza sauce

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/3 cup finely chopped pepperoni

2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese

2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded cheddar cheese

1  Heat oven to 350.  In ungreased 9″ pie pan or 1 – 1 1/2 quart baking dish, layer all ingredients in order listed.

2  Bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until dip is hot and cheese is melted.

3  Serve with bagel crisps, bagel chips or crackers.

Creamy Fruit Dip

by penji1

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Big get together last night at a neighbor’s house and I got to be in charge of the food!  Woo Hoo!  It was a great day!  There were about 40 people there and it started at 7:00 so I decided to go with appetizers and treats, all finger foods.  I did a veggie tray (which I got at Costco for $10 which included 4 pounds of veggies and dip, bargain!) and I made a fruit tray or rather Bob made the fruit tray as he did all the chopping of the fruit.  We did strawberries, red grapes, pineapple and cantaloupe.  I thought a fruit dip would be fun so I searched around and found this one on three different blogs, they were all slightly different but I figured if it was on three blogs that I found rather quickly then it must be good and it was so tasty!  And so easy!  So here are the three blogs it was on:  “Six Sister’s Stuff”, “Iowa Girl Eats” and “Simply Real Moms”.  The following instructions will incorporate all three of these variations so that you can choose which sounds best to you.

basic recipe:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened (1 blog called for whipped cream cheese and the other 2 for just regular cream cheese, I used regular this time)

1 (7 oz) jar Marshmallow Cream

additions:

1 cup powdered sugar (I added this)

2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate (I did not add this, this time)

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.  (I did this in my mixer, one blogger used a whisk.)

Cupcakes on Edible Pedestals

by penji1

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On Wednesday it was “New Beginnings” for the young women at church which is our kickoff for the year.  I wanted to make something special for them so when I saw this edible cupcake stand, the decision was easy!  The idea comes from a blog called “Best Friends for Frosting” which you should check out because her cupcake stands look different than mine and are pretty darn cute!  Our theme for the year involves keys and so I got a key shaped cookie cutter and cut keys out of fondant for the toppers.  Here’s how I did the stands and what you will need to make them.

cake ice cream cones

flat topped cookies (these here are the “Anna’s” brand that I found at Winco, I like the flower shape of them, I almost went with a store bought sugar cookie without frosting because they have sugar on them which makes them sparkle and also they are closer in color to the cones but I really liked the flower shape of these better)

Wilton candy melts

sprinkles

First, I melted the candy melts according to the package directions and then dipped the open ends of the cones just up to the little rims and then, after shaking off any excess chocolate, I rolled them in sprinkles and set them on wax paper to dry.  When the chocolate was set, I put a squirt of frosting on the end of the cone and then carefully pressed the cookie on the top and then let that set.  Tada!  Cupcake pedestal!

I made Double Fudge Cupcakes with Mint and Dark Chocolate Chips and I made Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Chips using the recipe that is under “Tea Cakes” on the blog and then I frosted them with my favorite buttercream icing which is also on the blog.

So adorable that I can hardly stand it!  I just love playing with food!

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup

by penji1

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The house smelled so good when I got home today and this soup tasted so good on a cold winter’s night; I highly recommend it!  It’s from a website called “Favorite Family Recipes”.

2 pounds ground beef (this makes a ton of soup so I just added 1 pound of ground beef)

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, shredded (I just sliced them)

1 cup celery, chopped

2 (28 oz each) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans, drained

1 (16 oz) can white kidney beans, drained

4 cups beef stock

3 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons pepper

5 teaspoons parsley

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 (20 oz) jar Prego traditional spaghetti sauce

8 oz pasta

1  Brown ground beef in large skillet.  Drain fat.  Add beef and all ingredients except pasta into a large crock pot.  Cool on low for 7 – 8 hours or on high for 4 – 5 hours.

2  Before serving, cook pasta according to package directions, drain and add to soup.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

by penji1

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And the final treat incentive for the girls at church!  Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!  So easy and so delicious, I can’t even tell you how many of the leftovers I have eaten.  The recipe is from a blog called “Heat Oven to 350”.

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (which happens to be exactly 1 pouch or sleeve from the box)

3 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 cup salted butter, melted

1 – 2  (12 oz each) bags semisweet chocolate chips (just depending on how much chocolate you want on top, I used about 1 1/2 bags)

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 – 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, if desired

1  Combine graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar in large bowl.

2  Add 1 1/2 cups peanut butter and melted butter and mix well.

3  Pour/press mixture into a 9 x 13″ pan and freeze for 20 minutes or until firm.

4  Microwave chocolate chips and butter at 30 second intervals until melted, stir until smooth.  (You can also add 1/3 – 1/2 cup peanut butter here which makes the chocolate topping easier to cut, I added 1/2 cup.)

5  Pour chocolate over peanut butter mixture in pan and spread evenly.  Put bars in fridge until chocolate is set.  Cut into squares.

UPDATE:

Christmas Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

So it turns out that these cut very well with cookie cutters and can therefore make a cute and yummy Christmas gift!

White Chocolate Mint Fudge

by penji1

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Another incentive for the girls at church.  Follow the instructions carefully even if it doesn’t look like the fudge is going to turn out right, there were a couple of times when it didn’t look quite right and I almost threw it away but I just kept going and it turned out delicious in the end.  The recipe is from a blog called “Centsational Girl”.  And I found the cute little “Keep Calm” saying on a website called “Fanpop!”.

2 1/2 (11 oz each) bags white chocolate chips

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

6 oz cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (or omit this for straight white chocolate fudge)

nonstick spray

green icing (optional)

Pour 2 1/2 bags of white chocolate chips into double boiler.  (My double boiler wasn’t big enough to hold all the ingredients so I just did this on the stove top over low heat in a regular pot.)  Add can of sweetened condensed milk.  As chocolate and milk start to melt, stir with a whisk so it blends well then add cream cheese, sugar and peppermint extract.  Continue to stir for 8 – 10 minutes until mixture is thick and resembles thick frosting.  Pour mixture into 8 x 8″ pan sprayed with nonstick spray (I lined the pan with foil and sprayed that) and allow to cool for 6 hours or overnight.  (I put it in the fridge to cool overnight.)  Once cooled, lift out of pan and peel foil carefully away then slice into 1″ squares.  Decorate with green icing, if desired.